Roof mounted carriers for carrying luggage or other transportable loads are widely known in the art. These devices often include structure which allows for displacement of the load carrying rack by rotation about a pivoting axis, or translation, or some combination of these motions to a more accessible loading or unloading position.
In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,571, issued to applicant, discloses a vehicle-top carrier comprising a track structure mounted on the top of a vehicle, a carrier frame slideably mounted on the track structure for displacement from a generally horizontal position on top of the vehicle to a tilted position along side the vehicle for loading and unloading the carrier. This vehicle top carrier includes a side guide track which is mounted in a generally vertical position on the vehicle below the roof track structure and a rigid, generally linear strut which is pivotally mounted at its upper end to the carrier frame and pivotally mounted at its lower end within the guide slot. After the load carrier is pulled along the track structure to a slightly inclined position alongside the vehicle, the lower end of the support strut may be slideably positioned within the guide track to a lower position in order to further lower the outside portion of the carrier frame and allow easier accessibility to the load.
While the pivot and slide mounting arrangement of the support strut permits some adjustment of the incline of the carrier rack for loading and unloading, the range of adjustment is limited by the length of the side guide track. In addition, several holes must be located and drilled in the side wall of the vehicle body in order to mount the track. Lastly, recent vehicle models, such as the "CHEVROLET BLAZER" and "FORD BRONCO" have relatively short sidewalls which do not provide sufficient room for installing the side guide track.